


Name That Hero

by chockfullofsecrets



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Tickling, and some linear algebra because why not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 17:40:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19795792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chockfullofsecrets/pseuds/chockfullofsecrets
Summary: He stopped, eyebrows still furrowed, and sat up very slowly to look Ned in the eye. “Ned?”His friend promptly dropped his pencil, fumbling to pick it up again. “Uh - yeah, Peter?”“Did you tell Betty that my name wasNight Monkey?”Peter discovers who coined the name for his European counterpart and decides that this deserves some kind of retaliation.





	Name That Hero

Two days after getting off the plane from London, things were back to normal. 

In Peter’s case, that meant an afternoon in his room doing linear algebra homework with Ned before a short evening patrol. Fairly boring, especially in comparison to flipping across the rooftops of foreign architecture, but Peter had come to really, _really_ appreciate normal. Even when it came with reduced-row echelon forms.

“Hey, Ned, what did you get for number four?”

“Uh...four by four matrix with almost everything over three?”

“Ugh, most of mine are over six. And this isn’t even an odd problem - can I see yours?”

“I’m working on seven, one sec.”

They were both sitting on his bed, so it was a matter of seconds for Peter to shuffle across and hook his chin over Ned’s shoulder. “I just want to see what you divided by in the third step-”

“Whoa, I’m being attacked by Night Monkey!” Ned didn’t even look up from where his mechanical pencil was rasping against the paper, but Peter saw him grin seconds before he reached around with his free arm and started poking Peter in the ribs. “He’s trying to steal my math homework! Peter, what should I do?”

“Ga-ah! Hehehey!” Peter giggled, squirming over to Ned’s other side where his arm couldn’t reach. “Let him have it! He needs it to save the world!”

Ned laughed, writing a few more numbers in his notebook before passing it over to Peter. “I’d give it to Spider-man, maybe. But Night Monkey? No way!”

Peter clutched Ned’s homework to his chest like the brain-saving treasure it was and flopped back onto his pillow with all the force of someone who had been punched. “Ned,” he groaned, “Night Monkey is such a _stupid_ name.”

Ned looked weirdly offended, late afternoon sunlight catching the side of his face as he grimaced. “Hey, it’s not that bad!”

“What if SHIELD makes me dress up in a black suit again? Why would Betty even-”

He stopped, eyebrows still furrowed, and sat up very slowly to look Ned in the eye. “Ned?”

His friend promptly dropped his pencil, fumbling to pick it up again. “Uh - yeah, Peter?”

“Did you tell Betty that my name was _Night Monkey_?”

“No?”

“ _Ned_.”

“I had to!” Ned burst out. “I told her I’d read about you in the news, and she asked me for a name - I didn’t know what to say!”

Peter just kept staring. “Night. Monkey.” 

“I was distracted by love! And fear! I’m usually good under pressure-”

“Are you? Are you really?” Tossing Ned’s notebook neatly to the other end of the bed, Peter grabbed one of Ned’s shoulders and wrestled him backwards onto the covers. “You wanna bet?”

Ned didn’t seem very reassured by his crazed grin, flailing in a useless attempt to right himself. “P-Peheter, come on - AH! AHAAAA! NONONO!” 

Peter felt his smile stretch even wider as he kept Ned down with one hand and scribbled rapidly over his belly and sides with the other. “No? Why not?”

“I - hihihi - I cahaHAn’t! PeheTER!”

Peter just _hmm_ ed and started poking around for particularly bad spots. “Nah, convince me, you’re - whoa, whoa, stay still! - you’re good under pressure, right?” He leaned a bit harder on Ned’s shoulder, forcing him still, and hovered a handful of wiggling fingers over the bare skin where his shirt had ridden up. “Well?” 

“Ha-ha-” Ned was panting, schooling his face to look as stern as possible despite seeming like he could burst into nervous giggles at any moment. “Peter, _no_. I gave you my homework!”

“You tickled me first,” Peter reminded him casually. “But okay, you got me.” He shifted back, both hands coming up in mock surrender. “Peter won’t.”

“Really?” Ned blinked. “I didn’t think that was going to work.”

Peter shrugged. “Night Monkey totally will though.”

“Oh, shi - _hihi_! HAHAHA!” 

Ned had no hope of shoving off a mischievous superhuman, and Peter knew his friend was way too ticklish to enjoy this for long - he only kept the assault for a couple seconds, squeezing fleshy sides and wiggling a finger briefly around a defenseless navel, before backing off and letting him catch his breath. “Okay, okay, I’m done.”

Ned flopped bonelessly over Peter’s legs, both of them wincing as a textbook toppled off the side of the bed. Peter couldn’t help laughing a little in the newfound silence.

Ned just groaned at him. “ _Dude_ ,” he said. “Fine, it wasn’t my best moment. Okay?”

They were both still smiling. If they started talking about Ferris wheels and green shields and that night in Prague, they wouldn’t be smiling anymore, so Peter decided to just - not do that. “Three years of academic decathlon, and you couldn’t come up with a better hero name than Night Monkey.”

“Academic decathlon is about remembering stuff, not coming up with it!” 

“Still.” Peter let his upper body slump across Ned’s back in mock dejection. “Spider-man can never wear black again.”

“I like your new suit better anyway,” Ned declared loyally. “Night Monkey can stay in Europe where he belongs.”

Peter rewarded him by freeing them both from the Jenga tower of limbs he had created. “Thanks, Ned.” He scooped up the fallen textbook and flipped it back open. “I’m never going to get to wear my suit again if I don’t finish this assignment, though.”

“You’re the one who got distracted in the first place!” Ned teased. He sat up, rearranging his homework materials back into order, and gestured for his notebook. “Come on, let’s check out number four.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you're so inclined, come say hi on [tumblr](http://chockfullofsecrets.tumblr.com)!


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